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Authors: Pauline Ash
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the urge to steal something.
The children hampered Lisa. She could not go after Jacky with them clinging to her, so she found Mary, who promised to keep an eye on them. But by then Jacky was nowhere to be seen. Lisa hurried into the house, conspicuous in her hospital uniform. She was not so lucky as Jacky. A maid, about to answer the telephone, asked her if she was looking for someone. Defeated, she had to go out again.
She thought she saw Jacky among the crowds, but as she hurried after her, Lisa saw a group of people gathered about the big ornamental pond, and she found herself swept along by other sightseers toward it. From their remarks she gathered that some children had fallen in, and instinctively she felt that the trouble concerned herself.
“Here comes the nurse! The one that was with the children!” someone said.
Lisa’s heart started to bump as she pushed her way through to the edge of the water. The children! But she had left them in Mary’s care. She could hear children crying lustily, she soon saw that they indeed were her charges and that it was the girl who had fallen into the water.
Horrified, Lisa had eyes for nothing else but the scene before her, and so she had no idea that Derek was standing just behind her. All she was aware of was that the man who had pulled the child out of the water and who was staring so accusingly at her was Randall Carson.
His clothes were ruined and the little girl was dripping, white-faced and frightened.
“You’d better take your charge, Nurse,” he said coldly. “Bring her to my car. We’ll drive back to the hospital.”
Somehow Lisa herded the children to the car. All around her, people talked about the incident. Lady Frenton was shrill in her anger about the fish in the pond being disturbed, and the damaged stalks of the prize water lilies. Lisa could only think of the children’s spoiled day.
“What were you doing near the water?” she asked them.
“Wanted to get a fish,” the little girl sobbed.
“But I left you with Nurse Thorley.”
“She bought us some ices,” one of the boys said, “but we ate them quickly and then we couldn’t find her.”
Lisa was puzzled and upset. She could say no more, without getting Mary into trouble, for Randall Carson was climbing into the car, a blanket in his hands to wrap around the shivering little girl.
“What were you doing in the house, Nurse?” he barked.
“I was looking for someone,” she said, surprised.
“I see,” he said, his face dark with anger. His eyes were icy cold; it was a miserable party that was driven back to the hospital, leaving the gaiety of the garden party behind.
After the children had been attended to, Lisa was summoned to Sister’s office, to face kind Sister Rudolph, Randall Carson grim-faced behind her desk.
“That was a very unfortunate thing to have happened, Nurse,” Sister Rudolph said quietly.
“It was absolute negligence,” Randall Carson said. “Children just out of calipers—”
Sister raised her eyebrows, and looked thoughtfully at Mr. Carson, who was seldom unjust. True, there had been stories of his efficiency stiffening lately, and of his expecting the same high standard from others. The poor man was working himself to the bone, Sister decided, with compassion, remembering the old story of his tragic loss. He ought to take the holiday due to him, she thought, or he’d be cracking up and becoming a patient himself.
“Tell me what happened in your own words, Nurse,” she invited, quietly.
“I—I left the children, Sister. Not near the pond, but still, I ought not to have left them.”
“Alone? Why did you leave them, Nurse?”
“I—I couldn’t very well take them with me,” Lisa said lamely, but with perfect truth.
“Then surely you should have asked someone to watch them. It isn’t like you to behave like this.”
Lisa had no answer to that, and at last she was allowed to go. She had no idea what would happen. At St. Mildred’s it
The children hampered Lisa. She could not go after Jacky with them clinging to her, so she found Mary, who promised to keep an eye on them. But by then Jacky was nowhere to be seen. Lisa hurried into the house, conspicuous in her hospital uniform. She was not so lucky as Jacky. A maid, about to answer the telephone, asked her if she was looking for someone. Defeated, she had to go out again.
She thought she saw Jacky among the crowds, but as she hurried after her, Lisa saw a group of people gathered about the big ornamental pond, and she found herself swept along by other sightseers toward it. From their remarks she gathered that some children had fallen in, and instinctively she felt that the trouble concerned herself.
“Here comes the nurse! The one that was with the children!” someone said.
Lisa’s heart started to bump as she pushed her way through to the edge of the water. The children! But she had left them in Mary’s care. She could hear children crying lustily, she soon saw that they indeed were her charges and that it was the girl who had fallen into the water.
Horrified, Lisa had eyes for nothing else but the scene before her, and so she had no idea that Derek was standing just behind her. All she was aware of was that the man who had pulled the child out of the water and who was staring so accusingly at her was Randall Carson.
His clothes were ruined and the little girl was dripping, white-faced and frightened.
“You’d better take your charge, Nurse,” he said coldly. “Bring her to my car. We’ll drive back to the hospital.”
Somehow Lisa herded the children to the car. All around her, people talked about the incident. Lady Frenton was shrill in her anger about the fish in the pond being disturbed, and the damaged stalks of the prize water lilies. Lisa could only think of the children’s spoiled day.
“What were you doing near the water?” she asked them.
“Wanted to get a fish,” the little girl sobbed.
“But I left you with Nurse Thorley.”
“She bought us some ices,” one of the boys said, “but we ate them quickly and then we couldn’t find her.”
Lisa was puzzled and upset. She could say no more, without getting Mary into trouble, for Randall Carson was climbing into the car, a blanket in his hands to wrap around the shivering little girl.
“What were you doing in the house, Nurse?” he barked.
“I was looking for someone,” she said, surprised.
“I see,” he said, his face dark with anger. His eyes were icy cold; it was a miserable party that was driven back to the hospital, leaving the gaiety of the garden party behind.
After the children had been attended to, Lisa was summoned to Sister’s office, to face kind Sister Rudolph, Randall Carson grim-faced behind her desk.
“That was a very unfortunate thing to have happened, Nurse,” Sister Rudolph said quietly.
“It was absolute negligence,” Randall Carson said. “Children just out of calipers—”
Sister raised her eyebrows, and looked thoughtfully at Mr. Carson, who was seldom unjust. True, there had been stories of his efficiency stiffening lately, and of his expecting the same high standard from others. The poor man was working himself to the bone, Sister decided, with compassion, remembering the old story of his tragic loss. He ought to take the holiday due to him, she thought, or he’d be cracking up and becoming a patient himself.
“Tell me what happened in your own words, Nurse,” she invited, quietly.
“I—I left the children, Sister. Not near the pond, but still, I ought not to have left them.”
“Alone? Why did you leave them, Nurse?”
“I—I couldn’t very well take them with me,” Lisa said lamely, but with perfect truth.
“Then surely you should have asked someone to watch them. It isn’t like you to behave like this.”
Lisa had no answer to that, and at last she was allowed to go. She had no idea what would happen. At St. Mildred’s it
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